In the early 1980s, in the name of the Dictionary Editing Office of the Institute of Linguistics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, I wrote an article entitled "A Greater Development in Dictionary Writing and Research Work", in which I mentioned the illustrative dictionary in the section "Filling the Gap". At that time, it was only said that "the method of using example sentences to enable the reader to understand the use and meaning of words from example sentences", as for the status and significance of example words and examples in language dictionaries, I did not even think about it at that time.
From "Erya", "Shuowen Jiezi", "Kangxi Dictionary" to the old "Ciyuan", "Cihai", "Chinese Dictionary" and "Modern Chinese Dictionary", example words and phrases have gone through a long period from scratch, from less to more. Previously, example words and examples were called examples in the jargon of dictionary writing. The so-called illustration means that it can be used as proof of the existence of this word or this meaning. Examples are important to editors, but less important to readers, and it is rare to look up examples from dictionaries.
My understanding of the status and significance of example words and phrases in dictionaries is gradually deepening. I once wrote an article called "About Information." The so-called information here is the cut-and-pasted example words, the example words of the cards. I said in the article: "Information is the root of the dictionary. Dictionaries from the compilation of words to the interpretation, examples, etc., are inseparable from the data, without the data, the compilation work is difficult to do. It is said that examples and examples are "fundamental" - although it is said so, it is also in this article that I also said a sentence, that is, "example sentences and interpretations are like green leaves and red flowers, and good interpretations must be set off by good example sentences, and good example sentences can play a finishing role in interpretation." For a long time I was complacent about having such a metaphor. This example is enough to prove that even at this point, I only regard examples and examples as "green leaves" - a supporting role!
There was a phenomenon that emerged in the eighties of the last century that caught my attention. In July 1982, a dictionary of commonly used words was published by the Chinese Min University Press. This dictionary has a simple definition under a single word, there are no example words, example words, but in the following list of many words or words composed of this word, arranged in one, two, three, four. In November 1986, the Fujian People's Publishing House published a book called "Modern Chinese Cilin" (arranged in positive and negative order). This book only lists words and words under a single word, and has no interpretation. It was also during this period that I saw an information book in a bookstore with many words in it, each of which listed example sentences (taken from the newspaper) of various usages. The book was compiled by the department of Chinese at a university in Beijing (possibly Renmin University). What does this phenomenon illustrate? It shows that example words and phrases have a "market" in society. This is a feedback on the reader's "appeal".
Seeing the above phenomenon, coupled with the teaching content of group words and sentences in primary and secondary school Chinese classes, at the end of the 1980s, several colleagues and I compiled a "New Chinese Dictionary" (reverse order). In this book, we decided to put another word column at the end of the one-word annotation, listing the various words composed of the words above. The purpose is to provide the reader with word information. By the beginning of the twenty-first century (by which time I had long since retired), I was reminded of the Exegesis. More than twenty years have passed, and no similar dictionary has ever appeared on the market. Some of the other "missing" dictionaries I proposed have appeared to a greater or lesser extent, but none of them have been compiled. I thought to myself, "It looks like this task is going to fall on me!"! In the end, I finally made up my mind desperately, did not measure up to my own strength, and decided to get on the "thief ship". After getting on the "thief ship", I couldn't stop wanting. It drained me of the rest of my life for more than a decade. Fortunately, I didn't take my old life.
In the early days of the "Illustrations", I considered that although the paraphrasing column can provide the reader with word information, it is doubtful whether this information can be well applied in reality. Because these words are scattered with the word title and the meaning of words, it is only a "component" and cannot be used. Parts can only be started and produced if they are assembled into a machine. Based on this, I decided to "knead" these words into each meaning of the entry, so that they can be integrated into one to form a complete "machine". In this way, there is both "hardware" and "software", which can create a platform for readers to comprehensively use Chinese language and characters!
In the process of compiling the "Illustrations", my understanding of the status and significance of example words and example words in dictionaries has been further deepened. Examples and phrases are very important for both editors and readers. Example words and example words can not only be used to analyze, summarize, distinguish, set off, and confirm the meaning of words, sometimes it can directly play a role in explaining the meaning of words, and good examples and examples can also save those ancient words that have "died". For example, "饔" and "飧" under "飧" (eat the last meal, not the next meal). With this example sentence, these two ancient words are "alive". Now, I doubt that my metaphors of "red flowers" and "green leaves" can be valid, and I even want to exclude metaphors such as "double xin", "and mao" and "complement each other"!
In the past, we were "looking up" dictionaries, dictionaries, that is, looking up the shape, sound, and meaning of a word. Now, we can't stay on that point. Language dictionaries such as "Example Explanations" are suitable for reading, and the breakthrough in the use of example words and example words in the writing of dictionaries is a milestone progress; similarly, the dictionary from "lookup" to "reading" is also a milestone progress. Language dictionaries like "Illustrations" you have to master and use the words in them only by reading more, reading and mastering, practice can make skill, and when it is clever, you can use it freely and with ease! Let's imagine if the reader wanders in such a rich and vivid word "ocean" as the "Illustration", can he receive the effect of "reading three hundred Tang poems well, and he can't compose poems and chant"? We will wait and see.
The "Modern Chinese Illustrated Dictionary", which was proposed in the last century, compiled at the beginning of this century, and carefully typeset by the Commercial Press after more than ten years of arduous management, will soon meet with the vast number of readers. This is exactly, "the crowd looked for him a thousand times, and suddenly looked back, but the man was in the middle of the light"!
I was overwhelmed with emotion, and I quoted four poems as proof: Once the sea was shipwrecked as water, except for Wushan Mountain is not a cloud; the wall is broken in ten years, and it is difficult to reward the sea as a hero!
Limited to the author's level of knowledge, this dictionary inevitably has errors and problems of one kind or another, and experts, scholars and readers in the dictionary field are welcome to put forward criticism.
January 2020
Written by Yu Tiantongyuan
Today, Mr. Li Guoyan has devoted more than ten years of painstaking efforts to the "Modern Chinese Illustrated Dictionary" has been published.
This is a dictionary of Medium Languages
It is also a tool book that can be read
The interpretation is concise, the meaning is refined, and the pragmatics are emphasized
A lot of effort has been put into part-of-speech labeling
This book makes words "alive."
Make the knowledge you have learned better integrated
Make words better
We sincerely recommend this one
Modern Chinese Illustrated Dictionary
Li Guoyan is a researcher in the Dictionary Office of the Institute of Linguistics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and one of the important editors of the Modern Chinese Dictionary. There are also "New Chinese Dictionary", "Modern Chinese Dictionary", "Contemporary Chinese Dictionary", "Student Modern Chinese Dictionary" and so on.
About the Author
Mr. Li Guoyan's young photo
Language dictionaries of medium size or above, such as the "Modern Chinese Dictionary" compiled by Mr. Lü Shuxiang and Mr. Ding Shengshu, attach great importance to the examples of dictionary meanings, but limited by length and style, the "accompanying examples" of ordinary language dictionaries can often be simplified and concise, and it may be difficult to fully meet the needs of in-depth learning of a language. Mr. Li Guoyan specially compiled this "Modern Chinese Example Interpretation Dictionary", which is equipped with appropriate use cases for each entry included in the dictionary, which not only plays a role in giving one example to three, but also to one as a tenth
The role of this, and in this way to fully set off, confirm, and distinguish the meaning of the word. Such a dictionary not only provides readers with the need for reference, but also allows readers to read carefully. I believe that the publication of this illustrated dictionary is not only convenient for readers to learn, use, and become
It is a good teaching material and a good helper to improve language cultivation, and it will also have a certain enlightening effect on academic researchers and lexicographers.
——Liu Danqing
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